Tree & Landscape Board

Minutes of the Tree and Landscape Board City of College Park Virtual Meeting September 20, 2023, 7:00PM Term Exp. Members Present Absent Staff Brenda Alexander, Public Works Assistant Director Staff David Wigglesworth, City Arborist 06/30/2025 John Lea-Cox, City Forester 06/30/2026 Christine O’Brien, Chair 06/30/2024 Todd Reitzel, member 06/30/2025 Emily Friend, member 06/30/2026 Tina Batten, member 06/30/2026 Jennifer Konish, member Alexa Bely, CBE representative Also Present: Stephen Shkeda, UMD student Carleveva Thompson, Contract Secretary Ms. O’Brien called the meeting to order at 7:04 p.m. 1. Approval of Meeting Agenda: The Board reviewed the September 20, 2023, meeting agenda and no changes were made. Motion: Approve the September 20, 2023, agenda as presented. Moved: Ms. Batten Second: Ms. Friend Aye: Unanimous Nay: 0 Abstain: 0 2. Approval of August Meeting Minutes: The Board reviewed the meeting minutes of the August 16, 2023, meeting and edits were made to the minutes. Motion: Approve the August 16, 2023, meeting minutes as amended. Moved: Ms. Batten Second: Ms. Friend Aye: Unanimous Nay: 0 Abstain: 0 3. Public Works Department Report: Mr. Wigglesworth shared the following highlights:  July 20 – August 16: 11 tree removal permits approved, 0 denied.  Aug 16 – Sep 20: 5 tree removal permits approved, 2 denied.  Met with 26 residents for tree planting locations on residential property for the contracted tree planting with Casey Trees. The total number of residents is now 55.  Contract tree work was completed on 49 trees and there were an additional 15 trees worked on due to a storm.  Met with a planner from Davey Tree for PEPCO line clearance tree work that will be done on Rhode Island Ave and Branchville Road. The work involves removing 4 Bradford pear trees and 1 maple tree as well as tree pruning.  Met with a SavATree consultant that will be conducting the urban tree canopy assessment. The assessment is currently on schedule and the draft report is due to be submitted by the end of September.  Identified 45 locations for tree plantings in the right of way.  The landscape crew are weeding and pruning for fall. 4. CBE Report: Dr. Bely shared the following highlights:  A new permaculture garden sign has been ordered.  CBE passed out reusable bags at the Hollywood Farmer’s Market.  CBE will be participating in a Good Neighbor Day project for weeding of the permaculture garden.  No new storm drains have been painted, but the project is ongoing.  An electric vehicle event is scheduled on September 23rd with a rain date of September 30th at Hollywood Farmers Market.  CBE will have a table at College Park Day on October 7th and plan to provide outreach on the food scrap program, recycling, and composting. 5. Old Business a. Municipal Scene Articles  Protecting Trees from Deer – October 2023 (Dr. Lea-Cox)  Leave the Leaves – November 2023 b. MNCPPC Updates i. Tree giveaway – Sept. 30th 10 a.m. – 12 p.m., College Park airport. MNCPPC created a flyer for the event. ii. Tree Plantings at MNCPPC Parks –Trees were removed at Berwyn Neighborhood Park due to storm damage, but no tree replacements were added. A resident planted trees at the park this year and MNCPPC’s maintenance staff were displeased with the placement of the newly planted trees. Ms. Alexander attended a meeting on August 23rd with MNCPPC staff and MNCPPC agreed to plant 33 trees in Berwyn Neighborhood Park as replacements. Trees will also be planted at Cherry Hill, College Park  Woods, and Lakeland neighborhood parks as well as around Lake Artemesia. iii. Adopt a Park Volunteer Program Update - Ms. Batten provided an update that she received a call from Kyle Lowe, Assistant Division Chief at MNCPPC. Ms. Batten discussed removing the fingerprinting requirement for volunteers for the adopt a park program with Mr. Lowe. Mr. Lowe agreed that the fingerprinting is unreasonable and will check into the requirement and get back to Ms. Batten. c. Vine Removal Video The Board reviewed Mr. Reitzel’s drafted write up for the vine removal video. The write up is focused on English Ivy and Ms. Alexander made changes to focus on invasive vines in general. The Board discussed focusing the video on removal of English Ivy and listing the other invasive vines at the end of the video. The Board will review the drafted write up and discuss at the next meeting. 6. New Business  Process for tree removal/re-planting on private property – Ms. Miriam Bader asked if there was a process for following up to ensure residents are re-planting trees after tree removal. Mr. Wigglesworth explained that a reminder email is sent to all residents that have tree permits and have not planted replacement trees. Residents are to email Mr. Wigglesworth when the replacement trees have been planted, but this is not consistent.  New Development – Ms. Alexander suggested to invite Ms. Barber from the City’s planning department to a future meeting to discuss new development and number of trees lost. 7. Next Meeting Date The next meeting is scheduled on October 18, 2023, at 7:00 p.m. 8. Adjournment Ms. Friend motioned to adjourn the meeting. Second by Ms. Batten. All members in favor; no opposed. The meeting adjourned at 9:04 p.m.